Driving out to the Windward side, destination Hauula Community Association, with breadfruit expert Diane Ragone was an eye-opening experience. As we drove along the green coastline, Ragone called out the names and conditions of breadfruit, or ulu, trees spotted along the way:
“There’s a nice ma’afala dripping with fruit; there’s another. Check that yard, Heidi — there’s a maopo, a favorite, big, round variety from Samoa. Look, that yard has a Hawaiian and a couple of ma’afala. That one is chlorotic; it needs some mulch and fertilizer.”
Ragone is a horticulturist and epic cook. She blends her Italian heritage with recipes and food preparation techniques she has learned here in Hawaii and in her travels through the breadfruit-growing regions of the world. One of the ways to get people to “grow for it” with ulu is to share good recipes.
We were headed out to meet with community advocates Dotty Kelly-Paddock and Tusi Avegalio to plan a big breadfruit tree giveaway for the Hauula community and friends and neighbors from around the island who wanted to learn about and grow ulu trees.
Kelly-Paddock has wanted for years to make her community safer by helping people grow crops in preparation for times of natural or human-made disaster. Ulu trees for Hauula are a natural and longtime crop ideally suited to the climate and community.
Breadfruit is a staple healthful food for us in Hawaii. We call it ulu, and so do the people of Samoa. Many cultures love to grow and eat ulu. They love it in Tonga, Tahiti, the Marquesas and all over Micronesia. Varieties of breadfruit grow in New Guinea and in the Philippines. There are many ono ways to prepare, preserve and cook it.
Once established in the ground, with some good initial landscape site planning, ground preparation and watering for the first few years, ulu is one of the easiest and most sustainable food crops around for people of the tropics and subtropics.
It is a complex carbohydrate, so it’s much healthier than processed white rice or fried potatoes. The nutritional profile is comparable to kalo, or taro. Ulu is rich in fiber and high in calcium and potassium. The ma’afala variety is particularly ono and nutritious. Some varieties are especially good sources of carotenoids and protein.
Ma’afala is also a fairly quick producer, fruiting within 21⁄2 to three years after planting. It is also an attractive short, wide and compact tree. If you want a shorter tree for our smaller Hawaii gardens, you can prune it and keep it low after it bears fruit for the first time. Or, if you want lots of fruit and have a bigger yard or farm to grow it, let it get tall and wide and you will get lots of breadfruit to eat and share.
Now is a good time to plant food trees. The Ho‘oulu ka ‘Ulu project is working to revitalize breadfruit growing in Hawaii. The Hawaii Homegrown Food Network and the Breadfruit Institute at the National Tropical Botanical Garden also are promoting ulu as an attractive, delicious, nutritious, abundant, affordable and culturally appropriate food in Hawaii.
This work is done through educational and outreach programs such as ulu festivals, workshops, cooking demonstrations and information resources that are available in print form and on the Internet.
To learn more, visit hawaiihomegrown.net/breadfruit.
Heidi Leianuenue Bornhorst is a sustainable landscape consultant specializing in native, xeric and edible gardens. Reach her at heidibornhorst@gmail.com.
